Minako's Quest Against Her Henshin
by Hitsuji Kinno
Summary: Minako wants to be an idol, but no matter what she does, her transformation won't let her change her hairstyle! She goes on a quest to change that. Anime–based. Episodes 100–114
1. The Trouble with Henshin is

Last note: This is based on the anime.

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Minako was sitting on her bed one day staring into her mirror. Her hair sat there limp and unfeeling. It was a lighter blonde than that of Usagi's, but it just didn't have the radiance that it once had. She wanted to change it, but her hair wouldn't let her.

Every one of the other senshi had beautiful hair. Rei had beautiful black hair, and she had these gorgeous raven tresses that really expressed who she was--a miko, sarcastic and a bit quietly fierce. Makoto had her ponytail which was utilitarian, and very much like her. She was sporty and it came in handy to have it up that way. Even Ami had a cool hair style, which was nice an flowing shade of blue. It hung loosely around her face. Minako didn't want to even think about Usagi, whose hair was always perfect, and she always got comments on, "Oh, how cute!" Even Chibiusa out did her with that shock of pink hair.

It wasn't unusual that Minako wanted to change her hair. All the beauty magazines said that everyone should change their hair every few years. It's a good change to make to boost one's confidence and stay trendy. The magazine had said that ribbons were out and that shorter hair was more fashionable. It also said that men were tending towards the more red locks this season, and though that red washed out easily it didn't really cost that much to do.

So Minako saved up her allowance for a month. She didn't go to the Crown Game center, buy any sweets, or do anything, reminding herself that she wanted to save up for an idol's haircut.

Minako was all set and ready yesterday. She even smirked as her mother scolded her for not keeping her hair out of her food. She told her mother that she was going for a haircut after school. Minako's mother said it was OK, as long as she did her homework after she got back. Minako was fidgeting all day at her school. Her body trembled with the promise of changing her hairstyle. She ran home and even tied up Artemis to her study chair (Since Artemis didn't understand high fashion and started to complain about how her past self would have never changed her hairstyle.)

So, she went to the trendiest salon in Tokyo at the heart of the Azabu Juuban, and flipped through several magazines. She thought about how ribbons were out, and how it wasn't fashionable anymore. In fact, what was she thinking by putting a red ribbon in her hair to impress her senpai? She really couldn't decide, so she decided to let the hair dresser decide if she gave them some clues as to what kind of haircut she wanted.

She thought that since no one in the group was a red head, that maybe if she changed her hair red and cut it, that it would be more fashionable.

She was reflecting on how even Luna when she became human had a cool hair style. (She'd heard about it later from Kakeru–– well maybe more from Usagi's brother who'd pried into Usagi's letters.)  
Artemis came into the salon, and somehow got past everyone and jumped into her lap just before her hair was supposed to get cut. She had to take him outside while he explained, "The red ribbon is a symbol of love. The red ribbon that connects everyone to their soul mates is the symbol that you wear in your hair."

Minako put him in the dumpster, and then marched right back into the salon. She didn't have to say anything. She was going to have this haircut!

The hairdresser and her talked a great deal on what she wanted. Minako said she wanted an idol's haircut.

"I want something trendy that won't get in the way of my idol career. I'd like red hair too."

The women thought that an auburn might suit Minako's hair and coloring. She said it would really bring out Minako's smoky blue eyes.

"It's also very fashionable these days and the red dye I will use will wash out beautifully over time, without too many problems with roots."

The hair stylist spent an hour after clipping Minako's hair down dying her hair into a nice color of auburn. It glowed and it sparkled beautifully. She put in the finishing touches and even a few highlights before cutting the final haircut. Minako was delighted with it as the woman primped it and used the hair drier and shiner to make it beautiful. It was radiant, and Minako thought that she was the most beautiful girl around. She was feeling really good until her communicator beeped.

When duty calls to fight some bad guy, it would be a really good idea to maybe show off a little. It's always a chance that they will end up being a handsome bishounen that could be stunned into silence from her new and beautiful haircut.

She paid the month's allowance, which was 5,000 yen. (She had to borrow a little for the next few month's of allowance, but her mother said it wasn't a big deal.)

Artemis was waiting outside of the salon when she came outside to transform.

"Not now Artemis," she said confidently, raising her henshin stick.

The light raised around her as her semi-nude transformation started. She saw the swirl of lights, her Sailor Suit wrapping around her tightly and posed beautifully in her best pose ever. She was really happy, she could show it off to Sailor Moon, and Sailor Moon would say to her, "I want a nice hair cut like that."

So Sailor Venus was running when she saw a streak of blonde hair and Artemis yelling at her about something. It couldn't be so. It couldn't be that all of her 5,000 yen was for nothing. The hours she could have been playing video games dissolved in that instant. Her new cute haircut was gone!

She put her hands on top of her head and then felt around there. It was a red ribbon. But she'd thrown out all of her red ribbons this morning when she decided to get rid of it.

Her voice shrieked said, "Artemis, what hair color do I have?"

"Don't we have to go and fight?" Artemis asked cowering a little.

Minako asked a bit more menacing holding up her henshin pen, "What hair color do I have?"

"Uhhh... red," Artemis said.

"Artemis!" she screamed.

"Blonde hair with a red bow," Artemis said.

Minako sighed. She should really go and help them. Maybe when she transformed back her hair would be, you know red with cute little highlights like before. She could be really beautiful. She quickly discarded the idea of Sailormoon commenting on her hair, but Usagi, she would definitely squeal. Well, as Minako saw it, as the representor for the Goddess of Beauty, she had a duty to look the best out of the group. She would detransform, and then show it to everyone. The boys in her class would all fall in love with her, and the boys would start a fan club just for her. She would be the talk of the school for weeks.

"It's not so bad..." Artemis started before Minako gave him a glare.

Yeah, like the cat ever paid for anything in Minako's household. Artemis didn't understand the heart of a girl. He never had any hair to cut on his body. He was an American Short hair cat who licked his fur every day and rarely ever picked up his disgusting hair balls, because he didn't want to raise any suspicion. Artemis couldn't understand why Minako wanted to be fashionable in the first place.

The fight wasn't really important, it was the usual stuff. The daimon attacks everyone, Sailor Venus shows up to pose with them and everyone smiles happily as Sailormoon defeats the daimon with a cute attack that looks physically impossible. The people magically recover, don't remember anything and everything goes back to normal as if this is a regular day in Tokyo when it isn't being blown up to little shards of radioactive matter.

The real tragedy was when Minako detransformed. She posed for everyone who stared at her blankly as she said, "You like my new haircut?"

Everyone sweat dropped and said, "Yeah."

That's when she realized that her hair was blonde with a red ribbon. Minako screamed for two hours into her pillow as she tried to concentrate on her homework.

It was bad enough that her mother asked, "So, I thought you were going to get a haircut today, Minako-chan. Why didn't you?"

Minako could only grumble and push her bonito around her plate a few times before her mother scolded her.

Minako went to bed very depressed that day. So, here Minako was looking out the window of her room asking herself why she couldn't get a haircut like usual.

Artemis came up to her and said, "Mina-chan it's not that bad. Don't worry about it."

"But Artemis," Minako began to cry clenching her fist at the injustice of it, "How am I to become an idol if I can't change my hair cut! I must try harder! I must overcome my henshin, or stop being a Sailor Solider."

The next day was a holiday. She could try again. She would succeed. She thought that if she begged a few people that she could gather up enough money for a new salon. (Since it would be difficult to explain that she had an estranged twin sister and she wanted to have the same hair cut before, when the hair stylist asked if she had any sibings, and Minako had said no.)

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Author's Notes:

This fan fiction is based on the episode where Usagi changed her hair style and got it shampooed, washed, and then transformed. Her hair magically changed into perfect odango without the shampoo.

This fan fiction takes pace around the episodes 100-114. That's the the super series from (Retire from being a Sailor Solider? Minako's Concerns.) to (Crazy for Celebrities! Mimet in Doubt). I included references to (Self awareness as a Soldier! Strength Lies in the Pure Heart). However, none of those episodes are needed to actually enjoy the story.

If you liked or hated this story, please e-mail me at the address listed above. Thank you.


	2. The Pen Fiasco

Due to a lot of computer errors, and problems, this chapter kind of got erased. But I can remember most of what I did, so do not fear! I will rescue it from the blankness that it could be.

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The Sailor Soldiers had naturally thought that Minako wanted to quit being a Sailor Soldier when they found out about Asai-kun, but that was only part of it. That brunette wouldn't have gotten Asai-kun if it wasn't for the fact that she had a hair cut that was in fashion. Minako wanted a hair cut that was in fashion too! She wanted short hair, but she couldn't defeat her henshin yet. Duty and honor came before giving up on being a senshi! Besides her heart crystal wasn't taken yet. How could she quit being a Sailor Soldier when that was true?

Minako was staring into her mirror shocked at the fact that her hair could not be changed. It was a dull and ugly blonde. What was the use of having blonde hair if no one could change the color? It was a blank slate, but for Minako, the henshin pen was an eraser of utter destruction.

"Artemis, my dreams of being a Sailor Soldier and an idol are ruined!" Minako lamented.

"I like your blonde hair Minako. Venus, in your past life, treasured her long locks of blonde hair," Artemis said.

"Well, probably because, _it was in fashion_!" Minako screamed at the cat.

Minako's mom called up, "Minako, honey, are you OK?"

"Yes, mom," Minako called hastily.

"It's not that bad," Artemis whispered.

Minako felt that she was solely inconsoleable. Artemis was still rolled in a ball.

"People will point and say, 'Her beauty's skin is not deep.'" Minako moaned.

Artemis didn't even attempt that one. He started, but Minako wasn't paying attention.

"It's not that bad, Minako, I'm sure you can still be an idol," Artemis said.

Minako grabbed a tube of mascara and then a bottle of nailpolish. She poured the nailpolish all over her hair. Artemis tried to object, but she didn't seem to care. She hacked at her hair on one side, and then started painting streaks into her hair with her mascara.

"Venus Power! Make up!" she cried dully.

The transformation flashed over her body, and the stars sparkled over her hair. She looked into the mirror and cried, "See! It's the SAME!"

She destransformed and tugged at the ends of her perfectly evenly cut hair.

It was the same, with blonde hair and a red ribbon on top. Normally Minako wouldn't be so upset, if it weren't for the fact that she'd cut up all her red ribbons, and she'd done everything to turn her hair one shade darker blonde. Her mother kept asking her when she was going to get that hair cut, and Minako couldn't give her a straight answer.

She sighed and said, "We have to go to the Hikawa Shrine today, don't we Artemis?"

Artemis nodded as he followed the now defeated Minako.

Minako arrived at the party and they set up to surprise Usagi for her birthday. They'd been teasing her all day at the park, pretending that they didn't know about her birthday, but they'd been planning for a while. Makoto had naturally made a gorgeous cake.

Minako wanted to forget all of her hair troubles and said that they should all forget about studying and just party. It was natural. Her idol career was over.

Usagi had naturally forgotten to tell Mamoru about her birthday--big deal you know how that went. Let's get to the important part -- the disguise pen! We know Usagi survives all of this, so the disguise pen.

Well, normally it would have been a natural crisis for Usagi to have her Heart Crystal taken. Of course it was, but to Minako, it gave her an oppurtunity she'd been dying to do. When she found out that her dear friend was in trouble, and that the enemy knew Usagi was Sailor Moon, it was Minako's chance! It was her chance to not only debut as an actress, but to test the item of all items in Usagi's arsenal that could actually change her hair! Kaolinite would buy it hook-line-and-sinker.

So when Ami-chan addressed this problem at Hikawa shrine, Minako announced, "What about the disguise pen?"

To which everyone thought was brilliant.

"Great idea, Minako."

She did wish Artemis was more convincing, but when he was not, she stuffed him under the table near her legs.

Artemis looked up at her and said, "Minako, don't."

Luna grabbed the pen and before anyone could say anything Minako transformed into an approximation of Sailormoon, ponytails, boots and everything! So what if she couldn't remember the henshin details, Usagi was in trouble. Anyways, Usagi always got compliments on her hair style. Always. Minako's plan was in effect, she would steal the transformation pen (Usagi never used it anyway,) and keep her hair in that fashion for the rest of her life. When she wanted to change it--disguise pen.

You know how the fight went, Kaolinite when down in a hail of iron and other things, and Usagi asked her to change, but she did not ask for the disguise pen back. Who is going to notice when a major enemy and person has just died?

Walking home from the battle to do homework, Minako tried a few hair styles. Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, the latest style from Namie Amuro. Minako chose one from a a magazine stand she saw on the way home, and zipped up to her room to look at herself. She was pleased with the look. It was her, it was idol Minako on the way to success.

Minako fell asleep doing her homework and holding the pen in her hand. It was only when her mother called her down for breakfast the next day that Minako went to admire her reflection and saw that the effects had faded.

"Why didn't it hold Artemis?" Minako asked the white cat, furious.

"It's not meant for extended use," Artemis replied lazily from the foot of her bed.

Minako tried the pen again, but it short-circuited. She forced Artemis to carry it back to Usagi's house and put it back into her belongings. Don't ever tell Usagi that, because she'd be furious. This is why Usagi isn't seen using the pen ever again after that. It was not the emotional scarring, it was the fact that Luna couldn't figure out how to fix the pen after Minako broke it.

This concludes Minako's last straw of ideas before she had to try more drastic measures...

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Like it hate it, if you review it please give the review content. Tell me what you liked or disliked about the story, and most importantly why. Critique Tolerance 8 (10 being high, roast me). (Don't mind 10 though.) Thank you.


	3. Time Travel Will Fix It!

Oh and Henry Poole is a real guy, more notes about it later on. I apologize to the Cundey family if I paint him badly. Benjamin Disraeli is too, he wrote the book Endymion.

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Just one note before the story really starts-- Minako only was bitter about not being able to change her hair when she punched the papers out of the scoop. Besides the Auntie comment--that kid could get a haircut! Minako was jealous.

But the true story starts on that fateful day when she found out that Chibiusa had come from the future and while Chibiusa watched Rei and Usagi chase each other, Minako snatched the key from the small cotton candy-headed soldier. Chibiusa being from the moon family would not have any trouble with her transformation! Afterall, Usagi managed to grow out her hair from the time she started as a Sailor soldier, it was one of the side effects of having the ginzuishou to use! She could grow her hair and do anything to it she desired.

So she took the key from Chibiusa. The girl was quite distracted with finding a friend anyway to care about her space-time key. This is what happened when Minako was missing for those few days she wasn't around.

She used the Space-time key, she was about to open the sky, when Artemis caught her. But it was too late, she cried out Chronos's name. And she was off through time. She wanted to find the person who designed these Sailor Suits--they probably programmed the pens, which meant she could change her hair.

Mr. Poole looked around his shop, satisfied that it was securely closed for the day. He'd done some really good business today. He sighed and thought of his friend Benjamin Disraeli, who had been pleased with his last suit.

He had been laying out a suit for a young boy. It was a special request from his mother--she was quite a sweet lady, but she didn't know what she wanted exactly, but her husband was in the Royal Navy. He wasn't sure what he exactly wanted to do either, but he had cut out the pieces regardless.

That's when there was a strange girl that stood outside of the shop. Her skirt was far too short and she was talking to what looked like a white cat. She was knocking on his window. He looked at the box of cigars and thought that perhaps he had one too many today.

She continued, so he went up to the window. she must be a lost girl--or she could be a whore. It was highly unfashionable for a girl to wear such attire. Only girls in whore houses wore a skirt so short, and such a tight-fitting top. He stared at the top. How did the fabric stretch like that.

The girl looked embarrassed standing there. He shouted through the glass, "We're closed!"

She shook her head and said in broken English, "Ano.. berry nisu to meeto jew."

He wasn't quite sure what she was saying. It sounded like she was from Asia, but he wasn't sure since she certainly did not look Asian with her hair blonde and blue eyes. He relented, since she seemed to be underage. He didn't know what she was doing out so late. She was young too!

He ushered her into his shop and was impressed by the workmanship on the suit she was wearing--it had no seems on her. He'd have to find out who had made that suit.

She looked like she was trying to think, and then muttered something to her cat in what sounded like Japanese--A few Japanese liked to visit his shop when they came to England, so he recognized the language.

She tried again and said, "Ai amu rost."

He blinked for a few seconds and then figured it out, "I am lost."

He nodded, and thought about if he had any gowns that he might have for her to wear--it was highly inappropriate for a girl of her age to wear something like this. He didn't know what tailor in London would be so crass as to sell something of this sort to such a young girl, but if he found out, he would report them to the Queen. Her Majesty would like to know. His cousin was visiting from out of town--perhaps she had a few nice dresses, and maybe a corset--since obviously this girl wasn't wearing one.

Her mouth was lipping something, as if trying to translate it.

"Vho aru jew?" She tried to say, "Ai amu.."

She paused, not knowing what to say she seemed to confer with the cat, and said, "Uhh... Minako."

He bowed to the young miss and said, "I am Henry Poole, Nice to have your acquaintance, Miss..."

"Uhhh... Aino," she said hesitating. The cat seemed to understand her, but then it might be that he had been working too late. The cat was on the floor and looked like it wanted to scold her. Definitely had been working too late.

He yawned an then bade the girl to sit down. The fabric stretched over her body. He was fascinated. He said, "I am amazed by your, err... costume. Perhaps you could tell me where you might have gotten it?"

It took her a while, and she was counting on her fingers about something and said, "Ma--umm...I wasu vonderingu if jew knew."

Artemis was looking up at her and mewing innocently. He didn't seem too pleased with her at the minute. But if she was to change her hair, why not her sailor suit too? She would be the most fashionable on the team. It was ages since she had to fluently use her English, and she was struggling still. The gentleman was being nice--Henry Poole. She took inventory of her surroundings. From her history classes in contemporary England, this must be the Victorian Era. The way that the man talked, meant he was quite well bred, or at least Minako thought so from her English friends.

He had a piece laid out for the young Prince of Wales. It was one of the many Sailor suits he had made after he had started to make boy's little Sailor trousers. It was a nice day for 1846, and he was looking forward to pleasing Queen Victoria yet again. He enjoyed the Queen's presence in his shop. She was quite a lady.

Henry Poole was staring at her in confusion. Perhaps her english was that bad, but he shook his head and said, "No matter, we'll find your parents--I guess you grew up in Japan, maybe in the embassy.. don't worry we'll find them."

Artemis hissed beneath his breath and then whispered, "We can't stay that long, we should really get back..."

Sailor Venus kicked him a little.

"Sank jew," Sailor Venus said politely.

Mr. Poole was rummaging through a trunk and said, "I'll find you a decent dress. It's inappropriate for a lady, such as yourself, to be dressed in undergarments as you are."

Sailor Venus didn't really understand this statement too well, his English was different from what she was used to. She knew she was in the wrong time. She wanted to go back to the Moon Kingdom, but she didn't want to be rude, he was accommodating her nicely.

He cried out in triumph and brought out a rather large--but pretty dress, he hung it over his arm, and laid several large petticoats on top of it.

"This should fit!" he said in triumph.

He led her to the dressing room, and she meekly went inside with the various dressing garments. She struggled with it for several minutes. She wasn't sure what went where, though it was clear where the corset went, but she couldn't breathe in it. She tried her best, and then put on the petticoats, and the dress over. She felt as if she was turning blue. A kimono was more comfortable than this contraption.

Henry called out, "How are you doing?"

"Finu," Minako squeaked, barely being able to breathe. Even with the laces loose, she could barely bend over to put on the shoes that he'd given her.

She came out in the breast-revealing costume.

Henry Poole applauded, and then asked, "Would you happen to have the uniform you had earlier, I would like to inspect it. Artemis was shaking his head. Minako tried to breathe and felt like she was passing out. Well, it was only fair, she thought.

She used her transformation pen and summoned the suit separate from her body from behind her.

He seemed to be delighted by it. His eyes opened with astonishment.

Henry could not believe his eyes, it was seemless. The girl surely was a witch--though he really didn't believe in witches.

The most interesting feature of the costume--besides the seemless fabric and the stretchy fabric was the sailor collar! He knew what he wanted to do for the suit for the little boy now--though he wasn't sure he wanted to make it orange. He traced it out on paper and adjusted it so it was like the royal navy's.

He was so engrossed in his work cutting the fabric, that he forgot about the girl, but when he turned she and the cat were both gone, and the shop door was locked. The orange sailor suit was gone...he definitely had been staying up too late.

Minako had barely gotten out of the dress, and had decided on a different approach when Artemis was scolding her. But she cried out the phrase, and they were off. She wanted to get to the Silver Millenium when they were inventing these Sailor Suits. She was sure that there had to be royal tailors back then. There had to be. Artemis sighed as he was taken on for the ride.

It was a few months later that the Prince of Wales, with his mother, Queen Victoria, asked to have such a suit made. Henry Poole of course obliged the young Edward and made it for the trip he was to go on in a boat. The date was September of 1846.

Henry Poole later filled out an order in 1860 for a smoking jacket that the Prince of Wales wanted for a party. The prince in 1886 was visited the Prince spending a week-end at Sandriham. He ordered such a jacket from Henry Poole and he wore it proudly at Tuxedo Park.

* * *

The Prince of Wales, as stated loved Henry Poole's work. Henry Poole was said to be the tailor for the royal family of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales's favorite tailor. According to the website, he was quite a jolly fellow. Because of this he is most likely to have popularized the Sailor suit in the 1840's when it appeared in a painting in 1846 (from a September painting). He was quite a popular tailor, and was so popular that the Prince of Wales decided to use him to make a Smoking Jacket (as stated above). Here is a link to the story.

henrypoole . com/thetruestoryofthetuxedo.html

Incidentally if the Prince of Wales had not existed, then we most likely would not have Sailormoon at all, it was the defeat of the Japanese that inspired the idea of using sailor suits for uniforms, after World War II. The only reason it was popular was because The Prince of Wales was seen wearing it in a painting.

artunframed . com/images/winterhalter/alb501.jpg

Here is more info about the Prince of Wales:

en . wikipedia . org/wiki/EdwardVIIoftheUnitedKingdom

(Incidentally he's wearing a tuxedo that looks a LOT like Tuxedo Mask's... hmm...)

Like it hate it, if you review it please give the review content. Tell me what you liked or disliked about the story, and most importantly why. Critique Tolerance 8 (10 being high, roast me). (Don't mind 10 though.) Thank you.


	4. Journey to the Silver Millennium

Oh and Henry Poole is a real guy, more notes about it later on. I apologize to the Cundey family if I paint him badly. Benjamin Disraeli is too, he wrote the book Endymion.

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The trip to the Silver Millennium was a lot harder than she thought. First she had to go through the corridors of time and then she kept popping up in the wrong time. It was only when she really focused and Artemis was getting upset with her that she finally got the key to work. With this in mind, she landed right where she wanted to be. Through this she was still wearing the dress that Henry Poole had given her.

She opened her eyes and she saw two men chattering to each other.

"Venus!" One of them said bowing, "How did you get here? We didn't hear you enter. We were sure you were in audience with the Queen," a man said.

"The meeting must be over," a man that looked familiar said. It was Henry Poole! She recognized him immediately. The irony of it wasn't lost on her.

"But Prince Endymion..." the other gentleman started.

"Nonsense, Ben," Henry Poole started.

"Ahem, I require my Sailor suit to be, you know, more fashionable," Minako started.

The man that looked like Henry Poole looked her up and down and said, "Weren't you in here an hour ago asking for a new color? It's the latest fashion, I assure you."

Minako honestly did not remember much of her past life. How could her past life really like ORANGE as the main color. what was with the color scheme. Who thought up orange and blue as fashionable?

"It seems to have er.. umm a bug--the transformation pen, that is," she said.

The man who looked like Henry Poole sighed, and then presented out his hand.

"I'm sure I made you better clothes than that, Venus," The man she assumed was Henry Poole muttered.

He turned to the other man and said, "Ben, This will be but a moment."

He absently patted Artemis on the head and asked him, "How have you been doing old friend? Has this girl been treating you well?"

The man laughed when Artemis shook his head, "That bad, eh?"

He looked at the pen and said, "What's the trouble?"

"My hair--I can't change it," Minako started.

"Remember you wanted that specification put into the pen so it would be, 'perfect every time,'" the man muttered.

Minako wondered if her past self had really been this fickle.

He shook his head, "I didn't do that part of the programming, you will have to ask Queen Serenity--but before you do, I'd like to give you a better outfit. That oufit is really hideous, pray tell the tailor that made it that he really needs to get some sense!"

This version of Henry Poole made her change (yet again), this time into an orange empire-style dress that he said he'd been working on. This one didn't have a corset, but it still was orange. Princess Venus must have had horrible taste in clothes, "What was I thinking?" Minako thought.

"Have you had enough fun yet, Minako?" Artemis asked her.

"No, we're not finished, I have to visit Queen Serenity," Minako replied a bit distracted by the dress. It fit her perfectly and was quite pretty, despite it's color. It was ciumbersome because of the long train and it was long in the front.

"Minako..." Artemis started, but Minako wasn't listening.

Artemis followed her ashamed to be seen with her.

"Now where are we supposed to go...?" Minako asked the cat, who muttered instructions to the main hall where Queen Serenity would be.

Princess Venus emerged from around a corner. Minako and Artemis hid against the doorframe of one door.

"I can't let me see me, I mean her see me..." Minako started.

"If you'd listen to me..." Artemis started.

The past Artemis started to say, "Princess Venus, if you'd listen to me..."

"Oh Artemis, loosen up!" Princess Venus replied merrily.

"What she said," Minako whispered to the current Artemis.

The door suddenly opened behind them and they fell into an unlit room. Minako and Artemis landed on their butts. A dark arm pulled at Minako. Minako looked around and found herself looking up at Sailor Pluto, a very angry Sailor Pluto. Not much could get Sailor Pluto this angry. Words did not begin to express how mad Sailor Pluto was.

"What are you doing here in the wrong time, MINAKO?" Sailor Pluto boomed aat her, departing from her usual soft voice and manor.

The ruby eyes flamed with rage.

"Uhh, I'm--I'm Princess Venus, see..." Minako tried to manage.

"You can't fool me. I know what you've been doing. I've had to clean up your mess that you've created and only just got the chance to do so. First I had to fix the trouble you caused with henry Poole. That poor fellow was sure that he'sd gone insane, do I have to mention the trouble you caused with feudal Japan? Why should I forgive you?" Sailor Pluto said, putting her staff near Minako's head.

"Uhh... I was trying to warn you? The enemy in the my time is trying to find the Talismen, they've already endangered Princess Serenity."

"The Talismen?" Sailor Pluto asked.

"Yes, a new enemy," Minako replied.

Sailor Pluto lifted her staff and looked oddly thoughtful. "Alright, I'll forgive you this once, since this was not supposed to happen--not yet at least."

Sailor Pluto was lost deep in thought then, and reguarded the cat.

"Stuck with her again, old friend?" Sailor Pluto asked, smiling.

Artemis hung his head low and sighed. Minako wanted to object, but she didn't.

"Alright, I'll forgive you if you give me the time key now," Sailor Pluto said raising her staff and extendeding her hand for the key.

Minako reluctantly gave it to her.

Sailor Pluto made the key disappear, and then looked at Minako, who was still on her butt.

"That dress has to go back too...please change into these," Sailor Pluto said handing back her original clothes.

Minako meekly obeyed, and Sailor Pluto sent the dress away too. She was hoping to have her pen changed before she got caught.

Sailor Pluto raised her staff over her head in a menacing manner, twirling it in the air. Minako winced as the staff landed judiciously on her head.

Minako faded from view, as Sailor Pluto said, "Thanks for the warning, you distracted me before...and don't use the time key again, or I will eliminiate you..."

Minako woke up in her bed with Artemis beside her. She looked into her mirror and cried out, "My hair! It's still the same!"

Artemis woke up with that information and groaned.

* * *

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	5. It's the Queen's Business

Oh and Henry Poole is a real guy, more notes about it later on. I apologize to the Cundey family if I paint him badly. Benjamin Disraeli is too, he wrote the book Endymion.

* * *

Minako was well... very defeated by this whole affair, here she was her dull gold locks hanging around her perfectly shiny, perfectly straight, and perfectly awful hair. She slumped--yet again--on her bed. She was exhausted--to tell the truth. After donating 1 liter of blood to the blood bank, and having her heart crystal taken, not to mention her travels to the past, she wanted to sleep. She was getting sick of all of this. She found out that YES, she did have a pure heart, but that didn't explain why she hadn't gotten a new transformation as Queen Serenity had promised when she snuck to the moon.

This most likely doesn't make any sense except to Artemis, her faithful, if not very, very, very reluctant--well let's get this straight unwilling--partner through these adventure mishaps. It really started the day she woke up in her bed back from seeing Sailor Pluto at the Gates of Time. One would think that Minako had learned her lesson by now, but it only deepened her determination further.

The truth is that she landed in bed back from her time travel trips. She fought that ugly monster that defeated Makoto, who went into the mountains. They went after her, and that monster was defeated. Big deal, she didn't get to fix her hair problems, and even when discussing with her friends--well they obviously did not understand one bit!

After all Makoto said, "Why worry about it? I like my hair this way..."

"It is very efficient and cute to have my hair short. It never changes," Ami said.

"I need long hair to be an elegant Miko," Rei said, "Until I become a flight attendant, and so on-- then I can wear it up."

"Mamo-chan loves my hair. He calls it cute," Usagi confessed.

Which truthfully left Minako the only one left out.

"Doesn't the ribbon connect you as the goddess of love and beauty?" Rei asked.

"Yes, a red ribbon in folklore are the red strings of fate. It is clear that you have that hairstyle for a reason."

To which Minako could only think--"What creator thinks up this crap?" but not in such kind words. This hairstyle was antiquated, by, let's say, over 2,000 years. It was from another life time! The Sailor Fuku was old, and worse of all her past self had the worst taste in design! Again, she thought what was I thinking? Blue and ORANGE! Who wears blue and orange?

At the time, this made Minako only that more determined, but she could not implement her plan. There was that little incident with Elza after all. She rather admired Elza's courage to train like that. But also, that short hair, wild, yet utilitarian, Minako wanted hair like that... skin so dark like that--but of course her henshin didn't allow such things.

No, the best time to sneak away was when everyone was distracted by Chibiusa's new friend--we all know how disturbing that turned out to be. At least that's what Minako heard about after she got back from a short trip to the moon. Since her mother said she should have a Guardian on trips to foreign places, she dragged sleeping artemis out of his bed, snuck him into a basket while he was still half asleep, and snuck off to the Tsukino house. There, she took Artemis out, and forced him to talk Luna into getting Chibiusa's time key.

"Tell her it's an emergency!" Minako yelled in a half whisper.

Artemis shook his head and said, "Why can't I go back to sleep?"

"Because, we're on an important mission! To restore the injustices of the world! We are the Sailors of Love and Justice, now how are we to get any love from cute guys if I don't fix the injustice of my hair!"

Artemis did not like this logic at all, not having to bug Luna for property that wasn't theirs. Luna was no more pleased than he was to be up at such an early hour. But wanting to sleep overcame her better judgement, and her usual preaching and making fun of Artemis passed, when she mouthed him the key.

Truth was, Artemis was hoping that Luna would be her usual self and outright refuse him. He was about to leave when she added, "Be sure she has it back by tonight!"

Artemis sighed, with his mouth full of the metallic chain, but nodded.

Now, since Sailor Pluto had forbid her from using time travel, it really hadn't prohibited her from traveling within the same time. The Guardian of Time couldn't possibly notice that. She'd gotten the hang of the key now, and promptly delivered herself and Artemis to the ruins of the Moon Kingdom.

She transformed into a Sailor Soldier once she got there. She knew that the central computer had to be somewhere around there. This was clear because after all, the small Queen Serenity hologram had appeared on a pillar. But there had to be a central power source.

"Minako... why are we here at 3:00 in the morning standard Japanese time?" Artemis yawned, "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Artemis.. where is the central power source?"

Artemis sighed, and then pointed towards one of the ruined buildings. Minako dashed off towards it. Artemis pondered staying alone, but figured that in Minako's current unstable state, that it was dangerous to his well being to do so--she was likely to go back to Earth and forget him. He resigned himself into a reluctant run.

Minako faced numerous panels and numbers. She didn't know what to do. It clearly needed a power source, but how? All she had were some triple A batteries, hardly enough to power something like this.

"Can't we go home?" Artemis asked in vain. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his paws.

"No, not until I talk to Queen Serenity!" Minako replied.

Before Artemis could blink, she had Ami in her pajamas in the control room. He groaned and tried to hide. Ami was usually mild-mannered, but being suddenly disrupted from sleep for Minako's emergency didn't please her one bit.

"I can't figure this out. You like computers, can't you fix this?"

It took a while for Ami to realize that Sailor Venus was not a dream or a figment of her imagination. She took one look at the computer and then back at Sailor Venus. Unceremoniously scratching her head, she said, "No. Now, send me back."

"Why Ami-chan?" Minako asked whining a little.

"I need exactly 8 hours of sleep to compute something of this magnitude. Even if the CPU was like Earth technology, it's unlikely that there is an existing power source that has the amp power to power a machine of this size. Not to mention that the RAM, Motherboard, or other processors and hardware might have been damaged. There was the clear short circuit of power when we were here last, and though I've discussed it with Luna it's unlikely we'll be able to fix anything until the creation of Crystal Tokyo, when the technology will finally be sufficient enough to fix such a computer," Ami explained.

Minako had heard about exactly to the point of where Ami mentioned "CPU", the rest escaped her. It did register on her that there was a lack of tools, and also a lack of power, but that was about as much as Minako heard.

"But your portable computer..." Minako said.

"Is an entirely different system. I'm not even sure if it will interface into such a system as this, even if I were to get it working. I barely saw King Endymion's computer system in the past," Ami added, getting crankier.

"Ami..." Artemis started, yawning again, "may I talk to you?"

A cranky Ami and an embarrassed Artemis went outside.

"Please could you do it? Minako is acting like, well Minako again,"

Ami groaned, and though the blue-haired water senshi was usually kind, without sleep, she was downright snappy--who wouldn't be after being waken up from a nice slumber about winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

"What? What am I doing here?" Makoto asked.

Artemis groaned as he saw Minako smile brightly at both of them.

"Can't you do a wide sparkling pressure, and power up this machine?" Minako asked.

Artemis fell down on the ground. He hated when Minako got this way.

"Huh? I was cooking only a few seconds ago," Maokoto said still in a sleepy stupor.

Before Artemis could count to one, a very angry Rei was in the room with them.

"Minako!" She shouted at the blonde senshi.

"Yes, good, I need you to wake up Makoto for me, so that I can get a power source, so Ami-chan will fix the machine," Minako said smiling brightly.

Artemis did his best cat shrug. The three tired senshi transformed and Ami spent time fixing the machine with what supplies she could. Mars, then woke up Makoto from her stupor, enough so she could power up the fixed machine.

The three soldiers stared at Minako, grumbling. Minako smiled and sent them back after firing up the machine.

An image of Queen Serenity appeared again.

The fairy wings and the hologram were clear.

Artemis had enough sense to bow before the queen. Minako opened her mouth before the Queen could speak.

"I want to change my hair, but my transformation won't let me."

The image of the queen looked surprised to see the senshi there.

"Where are the others?"

"Please tell me! I've been working on this for weeks."

The queen was surprised, and then slowly seemed to think about it.

"Well, the Sailor suit will change when you get a new item or a power up--it was designed that way. Your hair, however, cannot change unless you--" The image wavered.

Minako looked at the room where the computer was.

"And then..."

The power went out.

"Nooooooo!" Minako cried.

Artemis groaned--yet again, and then they disappeared in a flash of light. Before he knew it they were back in Minako's room. He wandered off to return the key.

A new item? Perhaps if she got to see her heart crystal, she would get a new sailor Suit. Granted none of the other Sailors had, but it was worth a shot...

That's when she realized that she had been on the moon too long and then went to Mamoru's for a study session. Minako debated this for hours, even when she went to the waltz. It was dangerous to have her heart crystal taken out. As the night concluded, and she helped defeat the daimon, she rejected the idea. Not one of the other sailors had gained a power up or a new sailor suit through the removal of their heart crystals. She would have dropped it further, if not for one small little detail... the study session at Rei's.

Yes, of all the indignation! They had told her she didn't have a pure heart. How could her friends be so cruel? So through Haruka-san and Michiru-san she'd decided, she was going to donate blood! It was the right thing for her to do and it would prove she had a pure heart. Of course Usagi helped her with those energy drinks, but the indignation of it. She thought that perhaps she would get a new sailor suit after that. Perhaps her hair would change too! She tried very, very hard. She donated day in and day out. Maybe she would get a power up, maybe that would be enough to get her a new sailor suit. She ran around like mad, giving every gram of blood she could give. After 3 days of hard work, that's when it happened.

Sure she smiled and helped defeat the lowly Eugial. But disappointment soon overcame her as she hit the front door. That's when she collapsed. Ironically, much of the blood she'd given was returned to her. Her mother was upset, but soon Minako was better.

Minako, now in her room, stared at her perfectly perfect hair. Her hair hadn't changed and her mother was convinced she'd blown the money on arcade games by now. She had to work extra chores around the house. She hated her henshin pen. She stared at it and then threw it at the wall, crying out her frustration, falling more sleepy from the multiple blood donations and hospital trip she'd experienced over the last few days. It simply wasn't fair.

What had her past self been thinking anyway with the perfect hair program into her transformation pen. Didn't Artemis and Luna give them new ones, why couldn't they program them? Jumping up in bed Minako thought of her next scheme. It would work!

* * *

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	6. Sailor Pluto's Return

Yeah, yeah, everyone knows about how Neptune and Uranus died. No BIG DEAL! Where is the drama in that? Walking across the bridge of fate, and that whole thing about Sailor Moon stepping on her. That _hurt._

No the real drama came after that. At least that's how Minako saw it. Of course the goop didn't stick to her hair because it had to be "perfect" but the fact that Sailor Pluto came made her more than a bit worried.

Now, most people would think at this point it was because of trying to find the true messiah and crap like that. Nope! That wasn't Minako's number one concern. It was more along the lines of, "Oh crap, what if she finds out that I used the Time-Space Key to go to the Moon." Minako wasn't sure if Pluto would erase her from all history--she'd read some fan fiction in which the Sailor Soldier could do that. Who knew what her real powers were?

However, despite these set backs, the quest must continue! As Minako pointed out to Artemis, "It's for the good of Sailor Soldiers everywhere." This of course (at the time), only included herself, Usagi, Neptune, Chibimoon (who was spontaneously added to the list), Pluto (but she didn't count since she didn't have a civilian form yet), Ami, Rei and Makoto. Seven people of the whole planet of about 5 billion people... less than the members of Morning Matsume, granted but it was just as important! If they were going to make appearances out in public, they needed to look good. They needed to be popular, they needed to look the best that they could! (Alright, even Minako admitted this was more for herself.)

This is why she thought of the next scheme. She would _make_ Luna and Artemis give her a new pen! They gave them pens in the past. They _had_ to know how to make them and how they worked. It was perfect! She knew it! Artemis had been holding out on her all this time. She didn't know why she didn't see it before.

However, to do this, Minako needed to keep it a secret, she needed to act, well, normal. She would then surprise everyone with a new pen! At this rate she could be smarter than Ami.

But first, it has to be explored how Minako reacted to the Grail before she came to this deep abiding realization.

Minako stared at the Grail as Usagi transformed for the first time and then realized that her best friend in the entire world had gasp One-upped her in the world of fashion. While, yes, she was concerned for her friend, her almighty quest for the Holy hair style minus the rabid rabbits. (Alright she'd seen the Japanese version of Monty Python.) somewhere at the back of her mind when her friend transformed, she realized that if a person's uniform could transform via object, that she herself could transform via object. Of course bringing back Uranus and Neptune was nice too, but that important factor led her to believe that her work wasn't for naught, and in fact she was on the right track.

Didn't anyone else realize that Chibimoon had gotten her pearls with feathers? That was a specific upgrade, which of course led to the meeting at the Fruit Crown Parlor.

Yes, yes, you all saw the concern for the messiah... but there is one thing that Minako asked Usagi.

"I want a hair upgrade!" Minako said sprawling herself over the table barely missing a few inches and grabbing her friend's shirt.

"You can give it to me right? Right?"

Usagi laughed nervously, as Rei and Makoto tried to calm her down. Which is about the time that Minako--from long hours of sleep depravation over this matter broke down--mainly to see if Usagi would do it.

"Minako-chan!"

Ami inched away from Minako nervously, remembering what she'd done on the moon.

"Alright if rabbits can do it and birds can do it, then perseverance will win out."

Ami didn't know what to make of that--if it was a song or a mangled saying.

"I just need Artemis... and Luna.. and Oh, we were talking about the Messiah?" Minako asked.

Rei was thinking something along the lines of, "I wonder if she's the cause of destruction for this planet."

Given this, Minako gathered a little conference with the cats in between her duties as a Sailor Soldier. Lacking sleep, and running on pure obsession as well as left over adrenaline from constant fighting with the Death Busters, she was not the usual calm girl that everyone had come to know and love. In fact, it wouldn't be amiss to say she needed another conk on the head from Pluto's staff.

Since most of what she said was in delusional Japanese, it would be wise to skim over this part and summarize it in the best rational way possible.

Minako grabbed Artemis by the scruff, Luna by the scruff and then shook them violently until she made them promise to get her a new pen before anyone else. This, of course is the mild version of it. Keeping it this way will spare a lot of broken Japanese and English blended in awful and new ways that would make a linguist cry for their mommies.

So the new quest began--at least for Artemis who had been putting up with this behavior for a while and just wanted to end it.

After talking to the Boss and then to Luna, they finally came up with a new henshin pen. The pen looked exactly the same and by the next chapter, (after Minako avoided Setsuna-aka Pluto's civilian form) Minako FINALLY got what she wanted... but as you'll see there was a huge catch... and maybe this was Pluto's revenge for Minako messing around with HER time stream...

* * *

This one corresponds to these episodes of SM. You do not need to know these episodes to enjoy the fic. (Minako ignores most of the major events). Death of Uranus and Neptune. Grail's divine power! True Messiah!

Like it hate it, I want reviews with some content. Tell me what you liked or disliked about the story, and most importantly why. More specific, the better. Thank you.


	7. I Changed my Mind

This is, yes, the final chapter. If you want more than this, sorry, this is it. It is finished, done, and so on. Several references to Ikuhara and cast will be done. They are existing people, and I have no intention to harm their families or reputations with this fan fiction--but as they did self inserts in the episode this fan fiction pertains to, it cannot be helped.

* * *

The first thing that Minako did when she stepped into the house of secrets and was alone was curse (as much as one can in Japanese--which turns out to amount to something like Oh crap in English.) She couldn't bring herself to swear in English, probably because she couldn't remember English all that well. It _had_ been several years since she'd ued an English swear word. Here she was with Hotaru (whom she didn't know was going to turn into Mistress Nine later, but that's another story.) with a brand new pen and she couldn't test it out. Why? Because suspiciously the house had turned into a dimensional space. Was this sheer coincidence? Was this fate? Or was this Sailor Pluto messing with her for messing with the time stream and a subconscious grudge on the part of Sailor Pluto?

Sailor Venus at this very moment was leaning more towards the subconscious or conscious grudge theory. It couldn't be mere coincidence--but really, did the dark and secretive Sailor Soldier _have_ to drag everyone else into their quarrel? It really didn't add up. So skipping over the unimportant parts, like falling off the bridge, and catching with her venus chain, reuniting with the group, and then being trapped in a card while two kids played Old Maid with what amounted to be a dirty cheater, Sailor Venus was finally freed (of course she'd be trapped in a similar fashion later, by Nehelenia, but let's ignore this fact) she _finally_ got to use her transformation pen.

She got a _brand_ new haircut. She finally got it to be stylish and after begging her Mom for three straight days for the cash, Minako realized something. It was awful. It was horrid.

_She didn't like her haircut!_**_  
_**

She parked Artemis in front of her and said, "I don't like it."

Artemis laughed nervously and said through clenched teeth, "You don't like what, Minako?"

"I don't like my haircut!"

This is about the time that Artemis's mouth flopped up and down in utter and complete disbelief. They'd traveled through time risked meeting her past self, she'd risked life and limb all the while talking about justice, corrupted the very fabric of time, gone to the moon, abused a time key and she what?

"I hate my haircut!"

After a few more rounds of what would be construed as two deaf people yelling at each other, with Artemis saying "What" louder each time and Minako saying, "I hate my haircut" louder each time, it ended abruptly with Minako's mother knocking on her door.

"Minako, do you have a guy over? Really, because young lady if I catch you, I swear..."

"It's just me and Artemis, Mom."

"Oh."

"I'm practicing my voices so I can sing."

"That's good dear, but keep it down, you're making me nervous... Your haircut is cute by the way."

Uuuuugghhh. That was it. it was just cute, not stylish, but cute. Who was in the world of fashion and an idol at this age with a "cute" haircut.

"Artemis... I--"

Artemis sighed and hopped under her bed. After disappearing he came out with her original transformation pen. After spitting it out and getting rid of the taste of the material, which was kind of nasty, he said, "I figured you'd say that."

"Am I really that bad?" Minako asked.

Artemis chose not to honor that with a response.

So Minako transformed and after working really hard for her next haircut, which kind of confused her mother, who was convinced she'd seen a mirage... Minako got a casting call. The guy there was CUTE. Really, really cute, how could Minako resist?

Plus in the audience there was a guy that looked somewhat familiar who later did this show with roses and cars and suicide-- and some other familiar people that she swore she saw somewhere, that she'd worked with or something. Somehow she felt like she'd betray them to cut her hair like that... and get rid of the bow, but she couldn't quite describe it. At least one of the judges seemed to like her quite a bit.

It was after the whole taking the heart crystal getting revenge thing that Minako heard those magical words from Araki, idol extroidinaire.

"Your hairstyle is unique and graceful," he said with that classic smile.

And those were the words that changed her very existence on this Earth.

"Araki said I was pretty and called my long hair 'unique and graceful'! I'm in love! Yup! I'm keeping my hair this way," Minako said.

Artemis fell over. After over a month of having to put up with Minako's antics, it had to end this way.

"Wh-Why? I finished that new pen for you. You know how hard that was?"

"Well obviously, I have what it takes to be an idol since I won first place!"

"You won second place!" Artemis said.

"Nope, because Mimete got sucked into the TV, remember!" Minako said.

Artemis sighed at this and grumbled.

"And I overheard Ikuhara-san tell Ito-san that she should draw me someday."

Ami looked at her henshin pen. She opened and then tweaked it. She wanted to grow her hair out a bit longer--not much, but she thought that her image of the uptight girl might loosen up. When she was finished, she smiled down at her work. It would take a while for it to kick in, but it would be soon.

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This one is based off of:

House of Secrets

Celebrity ones.

Of course this uses real people, However they are fair play since they self-inserted themselves into the episode! They were judges for the idol contest. Since they used self-insertions they are fair game as they were actual characters in the episode. (Otherwise I wouldn't do it).

Like it hate it, I want reviews with some content. Tell me what you liked or disliked about the story, and most importantly why. Thank you.


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